About

$12,023

pledged of $8,000 goal

107

backers

A-B PROJECTS

A-B Projects is a space for the exhibition of work by artists who are expanding and redefining the field of ceramics. For the past three years, A-B Projects was located in Claremont, CA, where I was the Lincoln Visiting Professor of Ceramics at Scripps College. This Fall, I am moving the gallery to my Downtown Los Angeles studio in the renowned Bendix Building, alongside a hub of seven other art galleries (including TSA LA, Monte Vista Projects, POST, Track 16, Durden & Ray, JOAN, and Chateau Shatto). Exhibitions and guest lectures at A-B Projects have given hundreds of students and community members access to contemporary ceramics thinkers from across the country. At its new location, an even broader range of individuals will have access to the unique exhibitions and programming at A-B Projects; this is why I need your support!

a selection of exhibitions at A-B Projects, 2015-2018

A-B Projects is a platform that shifts the perception and role of ceramics from a specialized but marginalized craft to a more pluralistic field within the greater realm of contemporary art. The ancillary mission of A-B Projects is to use clay as a conduit to connect and support community. I have curated twenty exhibitions at A-B Projects since its launch three years ago. Past exhibitions included elements such as 30 vertical feet of clay from Chicago, humorous and imperfect duplicates of a ceramic sculpture that is missing from a museum collection, and holographic projections with clay-pigmented fabric. A-B Projects is a non-commercial gallery space that allows artists to push their practices forward by taking personal risks and daring to exhibit seemingly infeasible work.

The original August Beater (Nicole's first car), after which A-B Projects is named.

WHAT DONATIONS WILL SUPPORT

The minimum fundraising goal of $8000 will support:

honoraria for exhibiting artists

materials to build walls

hiring a lead builder

basic marketing materials such as post cards

collaborative marketing with other galleries in the Bendix Building

a moderate salary for a gallery assistant

preparatory materials for gallery installation

The stretch goal of $12000 (or any contributions above the minimum goal) will help to:

finance an exhibition by an international or particularly established national artist

pay the rent for the square footage that A-B Projects takes up in my studio

THE REWARDS

I have created a functional ceramics project to fund my conceptual ceramics space. For this project, I am investigating the function of a plate. In a home, it most likely functions to serve food, but in my studio, the plate has become a tool for making drawings. Ultimately, these drawings become a record of the process of hand-building a plate.

In step one, I prepare a piece of clay by wedging it one hundred times. Step two involves forming that piece of clay into a circular slab. During step three, the slab is formed into a plate. I use the residue from each step to create unique drawings. At the end of a day in the studio, I create one more drawing from the clay that has accumulated upon my hands. The ‘wedging drawings’ and the ‘end of day drawings’ are made on pieces of paper off-cut from the ‘slab forming’ and ‘plate forming’ drawings. Everything is recorded, nothing is lost.

Slab Forming drawing (left) and Plate Forming drawing (right)

Adhering to traditional craft principles, the rewards are priced in correlation to the amount of labor required to produce each work. That is, from lowest to highest: Wedging Drawing, Slab Forming Drawing, Plate Forming Drawing, a Single Plate. There are several other higher priced combinations of these works, including two plates, three plates, four plates, one plate + one drawing, two plates + two drawings, three plates + three drawings, etc.

Wedging drawings (left) and End of Day drawings (right)

The plates are approximately 8” in diameter, which is a good size for a sandwich or a medium portion of pasta. The ‘wedging drawings’ and ‘end of day drawings’ vary in size from about 1”x4” to 4”x8”. The ‘slab forming drawings’ and the ‘plate forming drawings’ average about 10”x10”. The sizes all vary slightly because although processes are repeated, the outcomes are unique.

There are additional shipping charges ($5-$40) for all rewards. If you are based in or around Los Angeles, you will still have to pay the shipping fee but you will have the option of coming to my studio instead and selecting the plates and/or drawings of your preference.

The specific levels are:

one Wedging drawing (seven examples shown here) $20

one Slab Forming drawing $40

one Plate Forming drawing $55

one Plate $65

one Plate + one Slab Forming drawing $105

one Plate + one Plate Forming drawing $120

two Plates $130

three Plates $195

two Plates + two Drawings $225

four Plates $260

three Plates + three Drawings $310

four Plates + four Drawings $400

four 8" Plates + four 7" Plates $520

four 8" Plates + four 7" Plates + four Drawings $660

Risks and challenges

Any potential risks are associated with timing. The ideal schedule is as follows:

September 2018: construction of walls
October 2018: inaugural exhibition
December 2018 onwards: continued exhibitions
December 2018: Kickstarter rewards are shipped

Things that could cause delays:
- If this campaign reaches beyond the minimum goal, I would need to create more plates and drawings, which could delay the shipping of rewards.
- I am relying predominantly upon volunteer labor to build walls. If the organization of this is delayed, this could also delay the inaugural exhibition.

Support

Select this reward

Pledge US$ 20 or more
About US$ 20

Wedging Drawing

I have created a functional ceramics project specifically for Kickstarter. The rewards include work that I have produced at every stage of the process of hand-building ceramic plates. The first step of the process involves preparing clay by wedging (I use the 'boar's head method' of wedging to homogenize and remove air from the clay body). The drawings available in this category are made by an accumulation of marks that result from wedging each piece of clay 100 times. Each drawing in this reward category is a different size because they are made on the off-cuts of the larger drawings described in the next two reward categories.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge US$ 40 or more
About US$ 40

Slab Forming Drawing

I have created a functional ceramics project specifically for Kickstarter. The rewards include work I have produced at every stage of the process of hand-building ceramic plates. The second step in the process involves creating a circular slab of clay. This is done on top of a piece of paper, creating a drawing and record of the clay slab's expansion. Each drawing in this reward category is a slightly different size, which reflects the amount of clay used and the circumstances specific to that piece of clay and moment in the process.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge US$ 55 or more
About US$ 55

Plate Forming Drawing

I have created a functional ceramics project specifically for Kickstarter. The rewards include work I have produced at every stage of the process of hand-building ceramic plates. The third step in the process involves forming the slab of clay into a plate form. Part of this process is achieved on top of a piece of paper, where a residual drawing reveals marks made by my hands and the action of turning the clay. These drawings are made through an accumulation of forming up to seven plates on a single piece of paper. Each drawing in this reward category is a slightly different size, reflecting the various plate sizes and particulars of the process.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge US$ 65 or more
About US$ 65

One Plate

Each plate is made with a dark red clay that reveals light speckles of iron through a white glaze. The underside of the plate shows traces of my hand prints and my signature. Each plate is approximately 8" in diameter.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge US$ 105 or more
About US$ 105

One Plate + One Drawing

This reward category includes one handmade Plate and one Slab Forming Drawing (as described above).
Each plate is made with a dark red clay that reveals light speckles of iron through a white glaze. The underside of the plate shows traces of my hand prints and my signature. Each plate is approximately 8" in diameter.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge US$ 120 or more
About US$ 120

One Plate + One Plate Forming drawing

This reward category includes one handmade Plate and one Plate Forming Drawing (as described above).
Each plate is made with a dark red clay that reveals light speckles of iron through a white glaze. The underside of the plate shows traces of my hand prints and my signature. Each plate is approximately 8" in diameter.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge US$ 130 or more
About US$ 130

Two Plates

Each plate is made with a dark red clay that reveals light speckles of iron through a white glaze. The underside of the plate shows traces of my hand prints and my signature. Each plate is approximately 8" in diameter.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge US$ 195 or more
About US$ 195

Three Plates

Each plate is made with a dark red clay that reveals light speckles of iron through a white glaze. The underside of the plate shows traces of my hand prints and my signature. Each plate is approximately 8" in diameter.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge US$ 225 or more
About US$ 225

Two Plates + Two Drawings

This reward category includes two handmade Plates, one Slab Forming Drawing (as described above), and one Plate Forming Drawing (as described above).
Each plate is made with a dark red clay that reveals light speckles of iron through a white glaze. The underside of the plate shows traces of my hand prints and my signature. Each plate is approximately 8" in diameter.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge US$ 260 or more
About US$ 260

Four Plates

Each plate is made with a dark red clay that reveals light speckles of iron through a white glaze. The underside of the plate shows traces of my hand prints and my signature. Each plate is approximately 8" in diameter.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge US$ 310 or more
About US$ 310

Three Plates + Three Drawings

This reward category includes three handmade Plates, one Wedging Drawing (as described above), one Slab Forming Drawing (as described above), and one Plate Forming Drawing (as described above).
Each plate is made with a dark red clay that reveals light speckles of iron through a white glaze. The underside of the plate shows traces of my hand prints and my signature. Each plate is approximately 8" in diameter.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge US$ 400 or more
About US$ 400

Four Plates + Four Drawings

This reward category includes four handmade Plates, one Wedging Drawing, one Slab Forming Drawing (as described above), and one Plate Forming Drawing (as described above). It also includes a bonus drawing that is made at the end of each studio session by accumulating an even layer of clay residue from my hands.
Each plate is made with a dark red clay that reveals light speckles of iron through a white glaze. The underside of the plate shows traces of my hand prints and my signature. Each plate is approximately 8" in diameter.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge US$ 520 or more
About US$ 520

Four 8" Plates + Four 7" Plates

This reward category includes four handmade Plates at the original approximate 8" diameter, four handmade Plates at a smaller approximate 7" diameter.
Each plate is made with a dark red clay that reveals light speckles of iron through a white glaze. The underside of the plate shows traces of my hand prints and my signature.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge US$ 660 or more
About US$ 660

Eight Plates + Four Drawings

This reward category includes four handmade Plates at the original approximate 8" diameter, four handmade Plates at a smaller approximate 7" diameter, one Wedging Drawing, one Slab Forming Drawing (as described above), and one Plate Forming Drawing (as described above). It also includes a bonus drawing that is made at the end of each studio session by accumulating an even layer of clay residue from my hands.
Each plate is made with a dark red clay that reveals light speckles of iron through a white glaze. The underside of the plate shows traces of my hand prints and my signature.